The Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless communication protocol was developed as a wireless data communication protocol for Internet Protocol (IP) communications, such as for data communications in cellular telephone networks. The LTE wireless communication protocol comprises a packetized communication protocol, wherein an IP session is set up for each device accessing a wireless communication system. The LTE wireless communication protocol efficiently employs communication bandwidth for data communication by multiplexing Resource Blocks (RBs) in both the time domain and frequency domain.
The Voice over LTE (VoLTE) wireless communication protocol was developed to provide packetized voice communications capability over IP networks, with LTE and VoLTE therefore capable of carrying voice and data communications.
In operation, in order to wirelessly link with a LTE Base Station (BS), a wireless User Equipment (UE) registers with the LTE BS, wherein the LTE BS serves as the access point into a wireless communication system for the UE. The UE can register with the LTE BS when the UE is powered-on or when the UE moves into a coverage area of the LTE BS, for example.
When the UE registers with the LTE BS, several operations generally occur. The wireless communication system determines if the UE is in-network or out-of-network (i.e., whether the UE is roaming). The wireless communication system verifies that the UE is authorized and that the subscriber account for the UE is paid up and is not restricted. The wireless communication system then determines what communication services the UE can access.
The wireless communication network first sets up an Internet default bearer for the UE. The UE can initiate data communications over the Internet default bearer. Then the wireless communication network sets up a VoLTE default bearer for the UE. The UE can initiate voice communications over the VoLTE default bearer. The UE can now initiate or receive data communications and voice calls through the wireless communication network.
The LTE wireless communication protocol provides a Quality-of-Service (QoS) for a given communication application by selecting an appropriate communication bearer as given by a QoS Class Identifier (QCI) value. Each bearer has an associated QCI value. The QCI value is a scalar value that denotes a specific packet-forwarding behavior to be provided by the selected communication bearer. The QCI value specifies communication characteristics such as resource types, priority levels, packet delay budgets, and packet error loss rates. The QCI value therefore determines the bandwidth, priority, and other resources to be provided to a communication bearer.
Each QCI value is associated with a specific communication level or type. QCI values 1-4 comprise Guaranteed Bit Rate (BBR) communication bearers, while the QCI values 5-9 comprise non-GBR communication bearers. The GBR QCI communication bearers are used for voice communications and live streaming video, for example. Voice calls typically are associated with higher priorities and more demanding error condition performance than data communications, due to the importance of receive voice call RBs substantially in real-time and in the original transmission order. As a consequence, transmission/reception conditions at the LTE BS that are acceptable for data communications may not be acceptable for VoLTE voice calls.
Overview
A Mobility Management Entity (MME) system and method to disable Voice over LTE (VoLTE) service of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) base station (BS) are provided. The MME system in one example includes a data communication interface configured to receive VoLTE performance metrics and transmit and receive signaling messages over a communication network and a processing system configured to process VoLTE performance metrics obtained through the data communication interface to determine if VoLTE service on the LTE BS should be disabled, and if VoLTE should be disabled and if a create bearer request obtained through the data communication interface has a Quality-of-Service Class Identifier (QCI) value indicating a VoLTE session for a UE, transfer a reject message for delivery to the UE instructing the UE to use a different BS for voice service.